


Mr. Buckley

by Cptnsambucky



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eddie is still a firefighter, M/M, buck is christopher's teacher, eddie is smitten obvi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:53:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24526423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cptnsambucky/pseuds/Cptnsambucky
Summary: “Oh! Hello. I’m the teacher of this classroom, Mr. Buckley,” the man puts his hand out for a handshake and Eddie shakes it.‘Man, he is gorgeous’ Eddie thinks, slightly captivated by the man. He has a red mark above his eye but it does nothing to diminish his beauty.Eddie shakes the teacher’s hand. “Uh, hi. I’m Eddie. Eddie Diaz. This is my son Christopher. He’s new here.”“Ohthisis Christopher,” Mr. Buckley looks at Christopher with a wide smile.Christopher shyly smiles back. “Hi.”
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 260





	1. Hello, Mr. Buckley

**Author's Note:**

> This is an au where instead of Buck being a firefighter, he's Christopher's teacher, and that is how he and Eddie meet. Not beta-read so there is a high probability that there will be mistakes. This is also the first fic that I've ever written for buddie or for 9-1-1.

Nerves rack through Eddie on the drive to Christopher’s new school. It’s his first day at this school and Eddie has been dreading this since the move. 

New schools mean new problems.

He’s heard that this school is great, fantastic even, for children with disabilities. Eddie hates referring to his son as having a disability, because to him, Chris can do anything he puts his mind too. He’s stronger than Eddie could ever dream of being. 

So, realistically, Eddie has nothing to be worried about. 

“Dad?” 

Christopher’s voice cuts through Eddie’s thoughts, making Eddie look at him through the rearview mirror. “Yes?”

Christopher is looking down and picking at his clothes, a tell-tale sign that he was nervous. “Do I have to go to a new school?”

Eddie sighs, he knew all of this would be overwhelming for Christopher. He just hopes it’ll get easier for him. “I’m sorry, I know it’s scary. But, you’re the best kid ever. You’re going to have fun and you’re going to make new friends. Okay?” 

A small smile spreads across Christopher’s face. “Okay.”

Eddie smiles back and focuses his eyes back on the road, hoping that he can convince himself of what he had just said.

A short time later, Eddie pulls into the parking lot of the new school. Parking the truck and unbuckling his seatbelt, he turns in his seat to look at Chris. “Ready?” he asks, plastering a smile on his face.

“Ready,” Christopher replies, with a look of determination. Eddie exits the truck and helps Christopher get out before handing him his crutches. 

With Chris by his side, Eddie makes his way to the entrance of the school. He opens the door for Chris and then enters himself. “Hey, kiddo?”

“Yeah?” Christopher answers, kind of in awe at all the paintings and decorations on the walls. 

“Where exactly is your classroom?” 

Christopher fishes out a crumpled up paper ball that the school had sent him a week prior. Eddie shakes his head in amusement. “It’s room 107.”

Eddie hums and looks at the door number closest to them. 103. “We’re almost there.” he shoots Christopher a smile, knowing that the closer they get to the room, the more nervous Chris is going to get.

Christopher gives him a nervous smile as they make it to room 107. 

“ _‘Mr. Buckley’_ ,” Eddie reads on the door. “I guess he’s your teacher.”

Eddie opens the door, only to be greeted by an empty classroom.

“I guess he’s not in here, wanna take a quick look around?” Eddie asks Chris. 

“Are we allowed to do that?” Chris asks, looking at his father with wide eyes.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

Eddie and Christopher slowly entered the room. Christopher’s face immediately lighting up at all the artwork on the walls. Eddie was slightly impressed at all the art as well.

“Dad, look!” Christopher exclaims as he points to a pet tarantula in a cage. 

“That’s cool buddy,” Eddie says with a smile. Hopefully, that tarantula doesn't get loose.

The sound of the door opening makes Eddie turn around.

“Oh! Hello. I’m the teacher of this classroom, Mr. Buckley,” the man puts his hand out for a handshake and Eddie shakes it. 

‘ _Man, he is gorgeous_ ’ Eddie thinks, slightly captivated by the man. He has a red mark above his eye but it does nothing to diminish his beauty. 

Eddie shakes the teacher’s hand. “Uh, hi. I’m Eddie. Eddie Diaz. This is my son Christopher. He’s new here.”

“Oh _this_ is Christopher,” Mr. Buckley looks at Christopher with a wide smile. 

Christopher shyly smiles back. “Hi.”

“Hi. I’m Mr. Buckley. I see you like our pet tarantula. Her name is Veronica.”  
Eddie covers his mouth with his fist to stop his laughter.

“Wow. Can I hold her?” Chris asks with excitement in his eyes. 

Mr. Buckley looks to Eddie for an answer. Eddie chuckles, “Sure, kiddo. Why not?”

Christopher walks closer to Veronica and leans on his crutches while he holds his hands out. Mr. Buckley carefully picks up the spider and places her in Christopher’s hands. Christopher laughs when she starts crawling up his hand and on the inside of his wrist. “That tickles.”

Eddie’s face breaks into a smile. It’s nice seeing Chris smiling and laughing. Chris has been having such a hard time as of late, what with the move and all the changes that’s been going on in his life for the past couple of years.

“Wanna hold her, dad?” Christopher looks at Eddie. 

Eddie shakes his head with a smile. “No thanks.”

“Why? Are you scared?” Mr. Buckley asks with a smirk. Eddie raises an eyebrow in response.

“Scared? Nah. I was an army medic. I’ve seen scarier stuff than a furry spider.”

Now it’s Mr. Buckley’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Really? Well, thank you for your service.”

Eddie feels a blush coming. He never knows exactly what to say when people say things like that. He shrugs and shoves his hands into his pockets, avoiding giving Mr. Buckley eye contact. 

Christopher lets out another giggle as Veronica makes her way up his arm. Mr. Buckley smiles and checks his watch. “Okay, Christopher. It’s almost time for class to start. Other students will be arriving soon.”

He gently picks Veronica off of Christopher’s arm and places her back into her cage. Christopher pouts and Eddie chuckles.

“Don’t be sad Chris. You share a classroom with her. You'll see her every day.” Eddie says while ruffling his hair.

Christopher smiles at him. Mr. Buckley smiles to himself at the father-son duo. 

“Christopher, since you’re the first one here, you get to pick where you want to sit. That’s one of the rules. First come first serve.”

“Wow. Lucky you, buddy. I gotta go to work now. I’ll see you after school, okay?” Eddie smiles and kisses the top of Christopher’s head. 

“Ok, dad,” Christopher replies and chooses a seat. Eddie leaves the room and starts walking down the hallway, towards the exit.

“Mr. Diaz!”

Eddie turns around at the sound of his last name to see Mr. Buckley approaching him. “Yes?”

Mr. Buckley has a light blush on his cheeks. “Um, I’m glad you chose this school. It’s wonderful for Christopher.”

Eddie nods. “Yeah, I know. I trust you to be a great teacher to my son, Mr. Buckley.”

Mr. Buckley smiles a little. “I will certainly try to be. And uh, it’s Evan. You can just call me Evan.”

Eddie smiles back and looks to the ground before looking back up at Mr. Buckley, well, _Evan_. “Okay, Evan. You can just call me Eddie.”

Evan nods, a smile still on his face. “Well, I’ll see you when you pick up Christopher.”

“That you will.”

…..

Eddie walks into the fire station, eyes roaming the place. It’s nice, very nice in fact. 

“Hey Cap! Fresh meat!” 

Eddie turns towards the voice and sees a woman looking at him with a smile on her face. He gives a small smile back before someone, presumably the captain, comes walking up to Eddie and holds his hand out. “Welcome to the 118. I’m Bobby, your captain.”

Eddie shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Hen, and this-” the woman starts as she grabs another man walking by, “-is Chimney.”

Chimney waves with a smile. “Welcome to the team.”

“Eddie here is a former army medic. Got a silver star and everything.” Bobby says.

“Oh wow,” Hen says, genuinely impressed. 

Eddie laughs, embarrassed. “Thanks.” 

“I’ll show you around, newbie.’ Chimney motions to follow him. Eddie glances at the fire trucks one last time before following. 

…..

Eddie pulls into the school parking lot and parks the car. It’s been a relatively short day. He only had a couple of calls. So, a pretty chill first day at work. Hopefully, it’s the same for Christopher. Admittedly, he’s a little scared to find out how Chris’s first day went. Sighing, Eddie opens the door and gets out of the truck before briskly making his way into the school and to room 107. Unlike before, the door is actually open and Eddie walks inside. He smiles at the sight of Christopher holding Veronica _again_ and Mr. Buck- well, _Evan_ standing next to him, smiling. “Again, kiddo?”

Christopher’s and Evan’s heads whip at the sound of his voice.

“Hi, dad!” Christopher greets with a grin. 

“Hey, bud. You have a good first day?” 

“The best! Mr. Buckley taught us about the solar system!” 

Evan picks Veronica up and places her back in her cage. He sends a smile Eddie’s way. 

“Oh, really? That sounds awesome.” 

Christopher smiles and makes his way over to Eddie and Eddie ruffles Chris’s hair with a smile. “Am I late? Chris seems to be the last student here.”

Evan shakes his head as he approaches as well. “No, most students ride the bus home. You’re right on time.”

“Good,” Eddie replies. It’s a few seconds of silence before Christopher waves to Evan. 

“Bye, Mr. Buckley.”

“Bye, Christopher,” Evan says with a small wave. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Christopher starts walking out of the classroom and Eddie turns towards Evan. “Well. I think I’ll uh, I’ll see you.” Eddie says. 

“That you will,” Evan replies with a smile.


	2. You're Gorgeous, Mr. Buckley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of the complicated nature of Shannon and her relationship with Eddie, as well as her death, I think it would be easier for me to just have her die before this fic takes place. So that is what I am going to do. Also, I forgot how old Denny (Hen's son) is exactly but for this fic I'm just going to make him and Christopher the same age.

It’s been a week since Christopher started his new school and Eddie started his new job. Every morning Eddie drops Christopher off and every evening he picks him up. And every day, he sees Christopher’s new teacher.

It is kind of inappropriate to have the hots for his son’s teacher. But he really can’t help it. 

Eddie and Chris are sitting at their kitchen table, eating cereal. It’s Saturday so it’s kind of a day in for the Diaz boys.

“So,” Eddie starts, “how was your first week of school? What did you learn?”

Christopher’s eyes light up when his father asks that. “Mr. Buckley told us more things about space! Did you know that there could be a planet made out of diamonds?” 

Eddie raises his eyebrows. “Oh wow, that’s so cool. So, do you like your new teacher?” he asks, trying to be inconspicuous. Christopher does not need to know that Eddie has a crush on his teacher.

“Yeah. He’s really nice and really cool.”

“Good,” Eddie nods. “That’s good, Chris.”

“Do you like him?” Christopher asks, looking at his father.

Eddie chokes a little on his orange juice before making eye contact with Christopher. “Um. What exactly do you mean Chris?”

Chris shrugs. “Do you think he’s cool?”

Eddie sighs a little in relief. Thankful that Chris doesn’t suspect that Eddie likes his teacher like _that_.

“Yeah. He’s, uh, he’s cool.”

Christopher nods. “Dad. What are we doing today?”

Eddie smiles at him. Also thankful that Christopher changes the subject so quickly. “Well, we have to go to the store today. Then maybe afterward we can do something fun.”

The father-son duo finish up their breakfast before getting dressed and getting in the car for a quick trip to the grocery store. 

“Okay champ, you know the drill. You get to pick 2 snacks for the week.” Eddie states. 

Christopher smiles and walks off to get a snack. Eddie makes sure he doesn’t go _too_ far as he shops for the essentials like veggies and eggs. Eddie is preoccupied with choosing what flavor of Danimals he should get Christopher when he hears Christopher exclaim.

“Dad!”

Eddie quickly looks up and has to do a double-take when he sees Chris’s teacher standing beside Christopher with a small cart. He gives Eddie a wave and a small smile before walking a little closer.

“Uh, hi.”

Eddie returns the smile. “Hey. Funny seeing you here.” He mentally cringes at his lack of smoothness. It’s been a while since he’s actually flirted with someone and to say he’s rusty would be an understatement. 

Evan laughs a little. “Well, we all gotta eat, right?” 

Eddie’s eyes do a sweep down Evan’s body. Of course, he’s dressed fairly casual because he’s not working. He has on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top with some sneakers. It’s a good look. 

Eddie lifts his eyes back up to Evan’s face. “Yeah, we do.”

Chris walks back to Eddie with his two snacks and places them both in the shopping cart. Effectively snapping Eddie back to reality. “Okay, well. I guess I’ll see you Monday.”

“Yeah. Okay. Bye, Christopher.” Evan says with another wave before turning around and walking away. Eddie’s gaze lingers on his retreating form for a few seconds, not so subtly looking at his backside. 

“Dad. After this can we go get some ice cream?”

Eddie breaks the gaze to look down at his son. He smiles and ruffles Chris’s hair. “Sure, buddy.”

…..

Monday comes faster than expected as Eddie drops Christopher off at school. He has another kind of flirty kind of awkward conversation with Evan before kissing Christopher goodbye and leaving the school. He wonders how long the two men are going to continue this kind of interaction. The crush is still there, he just doesn’t know how to act on it. It’d be foolish of Eddie to assume that Evan liked him back. Evan is nice, very nice, and an excellent teacher if Christopher has anything to say about it. But kindness doesn’t mean that feelings are reciprocated. 

Eddie’s thoughts are interrupted when Chimney throws a crumpled up paper towel at him. It bounces harmlessly off Eddie’s head and tumbles to the floor. Eddie’s unimpressed eyes meet Chimney’s amused ones. 

“What are you thinking about?” Chimney asks while walking over to Eddie and sitting across from him at the table. 

“Oh I was just thinking about murdering you in your sleep,” Eddie answers with a grin. “Nothing much.”

“Haha,” Chimney responds just as Hen walks over there. Wherever Chimney is, Hen isn’t too far behind. They’re like two peas in a pod. 

“Yay. More company,” Eddie says, dryly with another grin.

“Hey now, don’t catch an attitude,” Hen says with faux anger, smile quickly betraying her as she pushes at Eddie’s shoulder and sits beside Chimney. “So, what are we talking about over here?”

Eddie opens his mouth to respond but is quickly cut off by Chimney. “Well, I was just asking Mr. Eddie Diaz here what he was thinking about. He sat there for like 2 whole minutes just daydreaming about something. I had to throw something at him to get his attention.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “I think 2 minutes is a bit of an overstatement.”

Chimney shakes his head. “Nope. It’s not. In fact, I think I'm being a bit too generous by only saying 2 minutes. It was more like 5.”

Hen folds her arms over the table and looks at Eddie. “Is everything okay?” Concern etched onto her face.

Eddie feels a little guilty. Here Hen is, being a good teammate and being concerned about him, and the source of Eddie’s daydreaming is nothing short of a silly crush. He shakes his head. “It’s nothing. I just have a crush on somebody.”

The second those words left Eddie’s lips he regretted them. Chimney and Hen both whistle before Chimney claps Eddie on the back.

“Atta boy,” Chimney says.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” Hen asks.

Eddie contemplates his next words carefully. He knows they wouldn’t care about him liking a man. Hen has a wife, for god’s sake, of course they wouldn’t care. But, this whole thing is just kind of new to Eddie, is all. He hasn’t really had time to think about his interest in men since high school, which is where he met his ex-wife. After that, he didn’t think too much about his sexual expression. He had gotten married and had Christopher, then shortly after Christopher was born he reenlisted. So, there’s really not much time to think about liking men when a wife, a newborn, and reenlisting was all on his mind. 

After his ex-wife’s death, he _definitely_ didn’t have time to think about it. 

But _now_? With his son’s gorgeous new teacher? He can’t help but think about it.

Eddie shrugs. “Uh. My son’s new teacher.”

“Hold up. Pause. You have a son?” Chimney asks.

Eddie nods, taking his phone out of his pocket and showing them a picture of Christopher. “He’s seven.”

“Oh my god, he’s adorable. I have a seven year-old too.” Hen says with a wide smile. Eddie smiles back and puts his phone back into his pocket.

“Okay, back to your son’s teacher. What does she look like? Do you have a picture of her?” Chimney inquires.

“I’m sure he doesn’t Chim. That’s creepy,” Hen says. 

“No, I don’t have a picture. And, uh, he’s cute. Really cute.” Eddie responds, looking both Chimney and Hen in the eyes.

His two teammates share a glance with each other before looking back at Eddie. Both of their lips curl into a smile and Eddie feels his cheeks heating up.

“Ohhh. Wow. He must be super cute if you’re blushing like that,” Chimney teases, nudging Eddie in the ribs. Eddie rolls his eyes and he blushes more before moving out of Chimney’s reach. 

“Ugh, I regret telling you guys.”

“Don’t regret it. I’m happy you told us. So, what is the plan? How are you gonna sweep him off his feet?” Hen asks, resting her chin on her hands and batting her eyelashes at Eddie.

Eddie shakes his head. “I have no idea. I don’t even know if he’s into men. I definitely don’t know if he’s into me.”

Chimney gives Eddie an incredulous look. “Look at you, man. How could he not like you?”

Hen rolls her eyes. “Just because Eddie is attractive doesn’t mean his crush would be interested in men. By the way, what’s his name?”

“Evan,” Eddie smiles.

Hen opens her mouth to respond when the fire alarm goes off. Eddie is internally grateful that he won’t have to discuss Evan anymore. At least for now.

…..

After another long day at the station (and more ribbing from Hen and Chimney, unfortunately), Eddie is ready to just pick up his son from school and go home.

He steps foot into the air conditioned building and quickly makes his way to room 107. Walking inside, he sees Evan hand Christopher a piece of paper with a smile.

Eddie walks over to them and manages to hear the end of what Evan says. 

“...highest in the class.” Evan looks up and smiles at Eddie. “You have a smart kid Mr. Diaz.”

“It’s Eddie, remember?” He replies with a grin. “And you bet I know it. What did my little Superman do this time?”

“We had a pop quiz on the solar system and Christopher got a 105%. He got the highest grade in the class.”

“Aw snap, Chris. How’d you get a 105%?” Eddie asks while looking down at his son.

Christopher beams at Eddie, “I got every question right and I did the extra credit!”

“Good job,” Eddie says while giving Chris a high-five. “You’re wayyy smarter than me, little man.”

Christopher smiles and picks up his backpack as Eddie glances at Evan. Eddie gives him a little smile before looking at Christopher. “Let’s go, bud. ‘Cause I am beat.”

“See you tomorrow, Christopher...Eddie.” Evan says.

Eddie looks back at Evan. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Follow me on Tumblr [cptnsambucky](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/cptnsambucky)! I love sambucky from Marvel as well as buddie!


	3. Go Out With Me, Mr. Buckley

‘ _Okay, today is the day._ ’ Eddie thinks to himself. ‘ _I’m gonna do it._ ’

It’s been 2 weeks since Christopher’s started school. 2 weeks of Eddie and Evan doing this little dance, flirting with each other but not enough to be obvious. It has Eddie feeling some type of way. One on hand, he really likes Evan, and he kind of maybe thinks Evan might like him back. On the other hand, this _is_ Chris’s teacher. There has to be some kind of unspoken rule Eddie is breaking by being interested in his son’s teacher. 

Eddie is changing out of his firefighter uniform. That morning, he had considered asking Evan out. He figured it was now or never. Actually doing it, however, is a totally different story. He chickened out, again, and awkwardly fumbled his way through small talk until it was time for Eddie to leave for work. It was pretty embarrassing to say the least. Luckily for Eddie, Evan seemed to find his blunder endearing and not lame at all. Which is a win for Eddie.

Throughout the day, Eddie’s been thinking. He concluded that today is as good a day as any. So, he’s going to ask when he goes to pick up Chris. He is. He hopes. 

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he exits the station after waving goodbye to his teammates. Of course, Hen and Chimney teased Eddie about his little crush. Eddie is just grateful that today was such a busy day that they couldn’t endlessly tease him like they wanted to. 

Not that they didn’t try.

 _’What’s his last name?’ Hen asked_.

 _’Soon to be Diaz’ Chimney answered with a nudge to Eddie’s shoulder and a wink before Eddie shoved him onto the couch_.

Eddie gets into his truck with a sigh. _’You can do it’_.

With sweaty hands, Eddie makes the short trip to Christopher’s school. He walks to Evan’s classroom and, as usual, the door is open. He walks inside and gently knocks on the door to make his presence known. It may have been stupid because the door isn’t closed, but whatever. Both Christopher and Evan look his way. Christopher’s face breaks into a big grin while Evan’s breaks into a smaller, shier grin. 

“Hi, dad.”

Eddie returns the smile and goes to Chris and hugs him, lifting him up a little off the ground before setting him back down. Chris’s smile never fails to brighten his day. “Hey, kid. How was your day?”

“It was good!” Christopher starts before going on about what he learned today and what he did. Eddie will feel guilty about only half-listening to his son later. Most of his attention is on Evan, watching him, watching as Evan regards him in the same way. Eddie only looks away when Chris finally wraps up the events of the day as he leans on his father, looking up at him with those big, gray eyes that Eddie would do absolutely _anything_ for and Eddie can’t help but smile. 

“Hey, why don’t you go look at Veronica for a second? I’d like to talk to Mr. Buckley,” Eddie suggests to Chris. 

Chris doesn’t need an excuse to go look at Veronica, so he quickly follows Eddie’s kind-of instructions and gently takes Veronica out of her cage. Eddie looks back at Evan.

“So, um. You wanted to talk to me? Is there a problem with the way I’m teaching Christopher? ‘Cause I can definitely change my teaching style.” Evan starts blabbering on in a way that Eddie can’t help but find endearing. 

Eddie shakes his head with a small smile. “It’s nothing like that. You’re a great teacher and Chris talks about you all the time. I actually wanted to tell you something.” 

Annnnnd here’s when Eddie’s hands start getting sweaty in his pockets. He’s never been the best at asking people out. Of course, he can flirt with the best of them. But actually asking someone out? It’s like pulling teeth. He tries to discreetly wipe his hands on his pants before speaking.

Evan is looking at him expectantly. Eddie clears his throat.

“So, well- I was just wondering if you’d, maybe, like to go out with me this Saturday? If this is inappropriate I am so sorry. I might have read this situation wrong and if you say no I will understand completely.” 

Now it’s Eddie’s turn to blabber as Evan’s eyes widen slightly before he smiles softly and laughs a little.

“I would love to go out with you.” 

“Oh. That’s- okay. Cool,” Eddie smiles back, effectively acting as uncool as he feels.

“Can I have your phone number? So we can get the details sorted out?” Eddie asks Evan.

“Sure,” Evan answers as he takes Eddie’s phone when it’s offered to him and types in his number before sending himself a text so that he has Eddie’s number as well. Evan gives Eddie his phone back and their fingers touch slightly, causing a small shiver to run through Eddie’s body. He pockets his phone and makes eye contact with Evan once more. Those baby blue eyes continue to take his breath away every single day.

“I’ll see you this Saturday, Eddie.”

…..

Eddie and Evan sorted out all the details and they settled on a place. Eddie insisted on going to pick Evan up. He is a gentleman after all.

The only problem is that Eddie is nervous as _fuck_. He doesn’t even think he was this nervous when he asked Shannon to marry him. 

Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But, still. 

Eddie looks at the clock, has to leave soon if he wants to make it to Evan’s place on time. Grabbing his keys and pocketing them, he makes his way to Christopher’s room and knocks on the door. “Are you ready to go, kiddo?”

Christopher opens the door with a backpack on and makes his way out of his room. “Ready.” 

Eddie and Christopher go out to the car and get in. It only takes a short while before they make it to their destination. Eddie gets out and helps Christopher out of the truck before grabbing his hand and walking up the driveway.

“Remember to be good for your Abuela, okay?”

Christopher gives him an innocent smile. “I’m always good.”

Eddie smiles and laughs a little. “Yeah, I guess you are.”

They get to the front door and ring the doorbell, only having to wait a few moments before Eddie’s grandmother opens the door. Eddie gives her a small smile and a wave. “Hey, thank you for watching Christopher for the night. I really appreciate it.”

His grandmother levels him with a _look_. “What’s her name?”

Eddie is taken aback from the question, even though he really shouldn’t be. He didn’t disclose why he needed his grandmother to watch Christopher, he just asked her and hoped that she wouldn’t ask any questions. She didn’t, but clearly, she knew more than she let on.  
“What do you mean?” Eddie tries to play dumb, knowing it’s futile.

“You know what I mean, Edmundo. You’d only ask me to watch Christopher for the night for one reason and one reason only. Plus you’re wearing nice clothes. So, I’ll ask you again, who is she?”

Eddie would be kind of impressed at his grandmother if he wasn’t also on the verge of panicking. Eddie forgot to mention to his grandmother that he’s also kind of attracted to men. So, not only is this whole thing uncomfortable to begin with, but now he either has to come out to his grandmother, or lie and make up a name for a girl. He doesn’t think his grandmother will have a problem with it, however, he doesn’t really know how she’d feel about it. 

“I’m not going out with a woman.”

“Then who are you going out with, Edmundo?”

“I-” Eddie stutters for a second and bites his lip. It’s now or never. “I’m going out with a man.”

His Abuela’s eyebrows immediately shoot up but she quickly recovers and responds without hesitation. “Ah. What’s his name?”

Eddie glances at Christopher. His Abuela hums and gently pats Christopher’s shoulder. “Go inside and make yourself comfortable, I’ll be in there in a minute.”

“Okay!” Christopher answers and makes his way further into the house. Abuela gently shuts the door and crosses her arms over her chest. 

“Okay, spill. What’s his name?”

Eddie rolls his eyes but he’s anything but annoyed. “Evan. He’s, uh, he’s Christopher’s teacher.”

“Isn’t that a little risky? Going out with your son’s teacher? What if you guys don’t work out and then as retaliation he gives Christopher bad grades?” Abuela asks. 

“Evan would never do that.” 

He wouldn’t. He’s way too nice for that.

“Okay, well, as long as you’re sure. Be safe and use protection.” Abuela says with a kiss to both of Eddie’s cheeks.

Eddie groans, his cheeks dusted a light pink. “Abuela, I know.”

Abuela gives him a sly smile before retreating back into the house. Eddie shakes his head and makes his way back to the truck, after all this, he definitely doesn’t want to be late.

Eddie makes it to Evan’s house in the nick of time. He jumps out, briskly walks up to the front door, and rings the doorbell. His heart is beating so hard in his chest that he can feel it. It feels like an eternity before Evan finally opens the door.

He smiles shyly at Eddie before grabbing his jacket and exiting the house. “Ready to go?”

Eddie smiles back and slips his hand into Evan’s. “Definitely.”


	4. Kiss Me, Mr. Buckley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just your friendly neighborhood dorks being dorky, as usual.

The car ride to the restaurant was filled with semi-comfortable silence. It wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t exactly as comfortable as Eddie would have preferred.

“I forgot to mention this, but, um, you look nice,” Eddie says, never taking his eyes off the road. He feels his cheeks heating up. Geez. Is he 16 years old all over again?

He hears Evan reply with a “thank you, so do you.”

Eddie murmurs his appreciation before the car falls silent once more. Luckily, the restaurant that Eddie chose wasn’t far from Evan’s house because they make it there before things can get super awkward. 

Eddie quickly parks and turns off the car. He gets out and is prepared to go get the door for Evan until he gets out by himself.

“I’m so used to getting the door for my dates,” Eddie laughs a little. “This is different.”

Evan laughs in reply. “Yeah, I get that. If you want to you can still open doors for me. I just might forget to let you sometimes.”

“No, I- I kind of like it this way. Not that I don’t like chivalry, it’s just that, this will remind me that dating a man is different than dating a woman. And that I can’t expect the experiences to be the same. I like the differences.” 

Evan smiles softly. “Okay.”

They enter the restaurant and the hostess quickly seats them before leaving them by themselves. 

“So. I’m guessing I’m the first man you’ve ever gone out with?” Evan asks Eddie, well, it’s a question that’s more or less a statement.

“Yep. I’ve always known that I liked men, I just, I never acted on it. Especially not when I was in the army.” 

“You were an army medic, right?” Evan asks, nibbling on one of the breadsticks that the waitress brought. 

“Yeah. Got a silver star.” Eddie’s not sure why he discloses that. Maybe he’s hoping to impress Evan. Who is he kidding? He’s definitely trying to impress Evan.

“Wow. So let me get this straight: you’re super nice, funny, unbelievably gorgeous, you’re father of the year, and to top all that off you’re a hero? I’ve truly hit the jackpot.” Evan says with a smile.

“You think I’m unbelievably gorgeous?” Eddie asks. His brain kind of short-circuited after he heard Evan call him that.

Evan laughs a little, cheeks pink. “That’s all you heard?”

“That’s all I care about at the moment,” Eddie replies with a smirk.

The waitress comes back, takes their orders, then leaves just as quickly as he came. Evan is looking at Eddie, biting his lip in a way that clearly means he’s thinking of something before he says it.

“What is it?” Eddie asks with a teasing smile.

Evan lets go of his lip and smiles coyly. “Um. I was just wondering- please, tell me if I’m overstepping my boundaries. But, I was just wondering where Christopher’s mom is.”

Eddie feels his heart skip multiple beats. He’s never really gotten over Shannon leaving him and Christopher. He’s definitely never gotten over her death either. He and Christopher just go through life pretending that it never happened.

“She, uh. She’s dead. We- she asked for a divorce and then she left to go take care of her mom. And then about a year later, I got a call from her mom telling me that she died. She was hit by a car and died on the way to the hospital.” Eddie didn’t mean to say all of that. It’s just that once he started, he couldn’t stop. He’s never been able to talk about this with anyone before. It feels good. He thinks maybe he should extend this feeling to Christopher.

Evan covers his mouth with his hand. “Oh my god, I am so sorry for asking. And I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Eddie shakes his head. “It’s fine. It was a valid question. It was so long ago. I guess I just figured I could go through life without talking about it. That eventually it’ll get swept under the rug and nobody will ask me about it. But that’s unrealistic, and quite frankly, unfair to Christopher. Despite whatever problems Shannon and I had, she was- she _is_ still Christopher’s mother. And he deserves to properly grieve her.” Eddie takes a breath. “Sorry for thrusting all this on you. I haven’t had time to grieve myself, so it was just like word vomit.”

Evan waves him off with his hand. “Don’t apologize at all. I couldn’t imagine going through something like that. You and Christopher are lucky to have each other. Please don’t feel in a rush to do anything with me that you don’t want to.”

And _that_ right _there_ is why Eddie wants to continue this thing they have going on. He wants to date Evan. How can somebody be this understanding after hearing all of that? Maybe he just has low expectations for people, but it’s still amazing nonetheless.

Eddie glances down at Evan’s hand at the table and slowly grabs it, giving Evan ample time to remove his hand if he felt uncomfortable. Evan just smiles softly and squeezes Eddie’s hand, almost like saying ‘ _I’m here for you. Whatever you need._ ’ and that makes Eddie want to cry a little.

But he doesn’t.

He almost does though.

The rest of the dinner goes by smoothly, maybe even smoother than it would’ve if Eddie hadn’t told Evan what happened with Shannon. Eddie doesn’t want to sound cliché, but talking about Shannon brought them closer together. He had thought the date would be awkward, but it wasn’t, and he thinks maybe this thing with Evan will work out after all.

They exit the restaurant, make their way to Eddie’s truck and get in. The short drive to Evan’s house felt even shorter this time since they’ve partaken in a very interesting conversation, continuing it on the walk up to Evan’s front door. 

“You were a bartender in South America? I’d pay good money to see that.” Eddie says with an incredulous laugh.

“I was! I have pictures to prove it.” Evan says with a sly smirk.

“You have to show me.” 

“You said you’d pay good money to see it. So, how much money are we talking?”

Eddie laughs again. “Wow, you’re gonna extort the father of one of your students? That’s scandalous.”

“What’s even more scandalous is going on a _date_ with the father of one of my students. Which, by the way, I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you.” Evan replies with a genuine smile.

“Hm. That is scandalous. I’m glad you enjoyed it. So did I. Now let me see those pictures.”

Evan looks at the door to his house, which was only a good 10 feet away, then back to Eddie before breaking out into a run towards his door.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Eddie shouts and runs after him. If Evan thinks he can outrun Eddie he’s crazy.

Not that he didn’t almost succeed. Turns out Evan is pretty fast and if his front door was unlocked, he possibly would’ve gotten inside before Eddie could catch him. Unfortunately for Evan though, Eddie did catch him and he pinned Evan against his door.

“Ha ha. You thought you could run away from the truth and you couldn’t. How does it feel to lose? Eddie mocks.

Evan looks at him from under his lashes. “Did I lose though?”

It’s now that Eddie realizes what position they’re in and Eddie blushes furiously before letting go of Evan like he’s on fire. “Sorry. I got carried away.”

“It’s okay. I like seeing you have fun. You seem so serious all the time. Or maybe that’s because you were crushing on me big time.” Evan says with a wink.

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Don’t act like you weren’t crushing on me. You’d always look at me with those blue eyes. You knew what you were doing.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Evan replies, looking at Eddie innocently with those _damn blue eyes_.

“Uh huh. I bet. You know, you’re abusing your power. I should report you to the principal.” Eddie says.

“Oh, really? You’re a snitch?” Evan teases. “That’s not cool Eddie.”

“A snitch. Nah. More like a man who’s being treated unfairly by his son’s teacher.”

“Yeah, okay. Snitch.” Evan snickers.

Eddie pokes him in the side which quickly turns into a very intense tickle match. With Eddie eventually winning because of his willingness to play dirty.

“Hey! No fair. You cheater. You’re a snitch and a cheater. I wonder how Christopher came out so great with a delinquent for a father.” Evan says between fits of laughter.

Eddie laughs. “Delinquent? Wow. That’s how you think of me?” Eddie stops tickling him but doesn’t move away, instead he stays close to Evan.

“Yes, that’s what I think of you.” Evan replies, looking into his eyes with his cheeks flushed from laughter.

They stare at each other for a few moments before Eddie glances at Evan’s lips. 

“Can I kiss you?” Eddie asks. 

Evan bites his lip and lowers his eyes to Eddie’s lips. “You’d be a fool not to.”

Eddie smirks and slowly, gently, kisses Evan. And if he ever, _ever_ had a doubt about liking men, all those doubts flew out the window when his lips touched Evans. Evan’s lips were soft, so, so soft. With his eyes closed, Eddie could definitely imagine that he’s kissing a woman instead. But, he doesn’t want to. Because the stubble that’s scratching Eddie’s face and the small moan that escapes Evan’s mouth when Eddie deepens the kiss reminds him that he is, in fact, kissing a man. And he doesn’t regret that one bit. 

Eddie’s hands find their way around Evan’s waist as Evan’s hands come up to rest on both sides of Eddie’s face. The kiss lasts for only a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity. Eddie would find this whole thing to be extremely corny if it wasn’t actually happening to him. He kind of needs to pinch himself to make sure that it really is happening. Evan is the one to pull away, but he doesn’t stay away for long because he lands another kiss onto Eddie’s lips. It’s short and sweet, but it takes Eddie’s breath away nonetheless. 

Evan hums, hands still on Eddie’s face. “Maybe you aren’t a delinquent after all.”

Eddie laughs. “And maybe I shouldn’t report you to the principal.” 

Evan laughs too as he gently rubs Eddie’s cheek with his thumb. “So, I’ll see you on Monday.”

Nodding, Eddie removes his hands from around Evan’s waist. Even though he could stand there holding Evan forever. “I’ll see you then.”

…..

Eddie woke up Monday morning in the best mood he’s ever been in, or at least as of late. Saying goodbye to Evan on Saturday was hard, although a few parting kisses were exchanged so it wasn’t so bad, and coming home was even harder because of his nosey Abuela.

‘ _So, how was the date, Edmundo? You’re home earlier than I expected. Did something go wrong?’_

_‘No Abuela, we just didn’t do...that.’_

_‘Oh? And why not?’_

_‘Oh my God, Abuela._ ’

Eddie still wonders how he got out of there with Christopher without his Abuela asking something else extremely personal, like, what size condoms he wears. Jesus. However, that did nothing to lessen the cheerful mood that Eddie was in when he walked into Christopher’s school with Christopher in tow, greeted by Evan standing by his classroom door with a grin on his face. 

‘ _Good morning Christopher. I have a warm-up assignment on your desk, okay?’_

_Christopher nodded with a smile and entered the classroom after giving Eddie a hug and a kiss. Eddie straightened up and reciprocated the grin that Evan was giving him. ‘Good morning, Mr. Buckley.’_

_‘Good morning, Mr. Diaz. How was your weekend?’_

_‘It was great. I went out with someone so beautiful that he’d give you a run for your money.’_

_Evan blushed at that and cleared his throat. ‘Oh? That’s nice. I went on a date too. It was okay, probably won’t see him again though.’ he replied with a teasing grin._

Eddie had wanted to kiss it off his face. But, alas, they were at Christopher’s school. So, after a few more teasing remarks, Eddie said goodbye to Evan and went off to work. Where Hen and Chim are currently bugging him about his date. 

“Don’t you two have anything better to do?” Eddie asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to express his displeasure nevertheless.

“No. Why would we?” Chim replies while throwing his arm over Eddie’s shoulder. All Eddie wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch some tv. He should’ve known the peace wouldn’t last because, not two seconds later, Hen and Chim made their way over to him and sandwiched him on the couch. 

“Because you’re being annoying?” Eddie says. He wasn’t really annoyed, in fact, he was kind of happy that people cared enough about him to ask him about his love life. 

He’d never tell them that though.

“Annoying?” Hen says with a dramatic gasp and Eddie has to fight the smile that tries worming its way onto his face. “We just want to know how the date with Evan went. You know, you still haven’t shown us a picture of him.”

“And how do you suppose I get a picture of him? Take one of him when he’s not looking?” Eddie replies.

“Whatever you have to do so that we can get a look at Mr. soon-to-be Diaz,” Chimney responded.

Eddie does laugh at that, but more because of how ridiculous they’re both being and less about it actually being funny.

“He’s cute, okay? Take my word for it.” Eddie says, hoping that’ll appease the hungry vultures, but knowing that it won’t.

“You still haven’t told us how the date went,” Hen so helpfully reminds Eddie. And here he was hoping he’d be able to skirt around the subject.

“It was good, great even. It was as magical as it could have been. Wow, he took my breath away,” Eddie jokes. Even if the part about Evan taking his breath away is true.

Hen playfully shoves at Eddie’s shoulder. “Don’t get smart. Did you guys kiss?”

Eddie feels his cheeks heating up. This feels too much like he’s 15 years old again and his parents are asking him if he kissed his date back then. 

“Yes. We kissed. Are you happy? Will you guys finally leave me alone about it?” Eddie ruefully answered.

Thankfully, and Eddie truly has to thank someone for this, the fire alarm goes off and Eddie doesn’t waste a second. He hops off the couch and looks at his teammates.

“Let’s go, guys. Someone’s in dire need of our help.”

Chim and Hen glance at each other before they both stand up and the trio make their way to the fire trucks. 

“This isn’t over,” Chimney tells Eddie on the way to the call. 

“Aren’t I lucky?” Eddie asks sarcastically. 

Eddie thinks back to his date on Saturday and he figures that he actually is kind of lucky. And he has no plans of running out of that luck anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far there has been a severe lack of Bobby and Athena in this fic and I just want to apologize. How dare I not provide enough Bobby and Athena content. That will surely be fixed in the chapters moving forward. However, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I definitely enjoyed writing it. I'm trying to write longer chapters for you guys and I feel like, once the story picks up, the chapters will get longer and longer. Anyway, enjoy and thanks for all the comments and support!


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